Enduring Zaude
by Snowflake Kisses
Summary: They were friends, brothers, and Flynn wouldn't let that end without his say so. With a deep breath and a heart full of determination, he followed suit.


**Disclaimer: Characters belong to: Bandai Namco**

**A/N: This is just my take on how I feel the end of the Zaude scene should have gone. XP I hate Sodia for what she's done, but I guess I can't do anything about it. I hope you guys like and please leave a critique in the reviews. **

* * *

"The Adephagos disappeared into the void," Yuri murmured as he watched the decent of the catastrophe.

"Yeah well, guess they didn't really say they destroyed that…thing." He sighed; hand on his hip and a pale hand scratching the back of his head. The stands of his violet hair shifted with the movement and he huffed to blow his bangs out of frustrated onyx eyes.

"They just went off and left this piece of crap remnant behind." Yuri crossed his arms, fingers rubbing against the metal of his sword hilt as he clicked his tongue, "Always left with the dirty work huh?"

The sound of clanking metal rang from behind him, catching the vigilante's attention.

"Flynn?" Yuri turned with a worried expression to make sure his best friend was okay. Flynn had taken a blow for him after all. However, he was taken by surprise with the blur of a green uniform and clay-brown hair before a searing pain shot through his side.

Cringing in pain he shoved Sodia back, the bloody dagger being pulled form his skin and falling noisily to the ground, along with his sword. The woman stumbled back, her hands going to her face as violet eyes widened in fear.

Yuri pressed a hand to the bleeding wound, his vision blurring and teeth clenched. He stumbled back but couldn't catch himself, not until one on his feet slipped off the edge. A startled gasp left his lips as air rushed up to meet him and Yuri desperately reached out his left hand as if in the hope someone would save him.

"Yuri!" The familiar voice rang through his ears as darkness took his senses, catching Sodia off guard.

The brunette whirled around to see Flynn; her beloved Captain, rushing towards them. The desperation in those bright blue eyes caused her heart to clench and the wisp of his spiky blond hair stole her breath away.

"Dammit!" Flynn quickly stripped himself of his metal armor and Imperial Knight cape, turning a hardened look to Sodia.

"You lead those boats to the land beneath Zaude. If he dies, Sodia, I will never forgive you," His voice venomous and fast, he didn't even both to give the woman a single glance before he leapt off the edge of the Enduring Shrine of Zaude.

* * *

Flynn grit his teeth and squinted his eyes against the rush of air that assaulted him from the plummet. His narrowed gaze was focused solely on the violet haired man beneath him. He had to catch up, he had to grab him before they hit the ocean or Yuri could go into shock, if he hadn't already.

The Commandant clenched his jaw and reached out his hand, smiling as he was able to grab hold of Yuri's. Carefully Flynn moved his other arm around the vigilante's body and pulled him close to his chest, releasing his hand and pressing it to the back Yuri's head to shield him from the encroaching impact.

"I'm sorry…" Flynn whispered against his friend's head and shut his eyes as they were swallowed by the ocean.

* * *

Yuri gasped awake, black eyes snapping open and blinking at the darkened sky. The faint crackling of a fire caught his ears and he slowly turned his head, finding one in the center of the forest clearing where he lies. A light breeze sent a chill up his spin and the vigilante looked down to see his shirt open and a strip of familiar blue and white fabric tied around his abdomen. What the hell?

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake." The voice startled him and Yuri looked over the flames, seeing the on and only Flynn Scifo walking towards him.

Flynn had removed his tunic, leaving him in white pants and a black short-sleeve turtle neck. He was carrying a batch of firewood, which he set on the ground before kneeling next to his friend.

"F-Flynn? What the hell are you…?" Yuri blinked, thoroughly confused.

"Do you remember what happened?" Flynn asked him softly.

"Yeah, your damned lieutenant tried to kill me!" Yuri snapped and winced from his side, pressing a hand to the fabric.

"Hey, hey easy," Flynn soothed, setting a hand over Yuri's. "I was able to use First Aid to close the wound, but it's still going to be tender. You can't move around too violently yet, or else you could re-open it."

"I swear…I'm going to kick Sodia's ass when I see her again…" Yuri seethed through grit teeth.

"I won't stop you," Flynn sighed and bowed his head.

"I'm so sorry Yuri. Maybe if I had just explained how our relationship works, Sodia wouldn't have felt the need to do this…" He murmured.

Yuri sighed and looked up at him with half-lidded eyes. "Why did you do it?"

"Huh?" Flynn blinked.

"Why did you jump after me?" Yuri asked.

Flynn was taken back by the question, arching an eyebrow. "You're my best friend Yuri; of course I'm going to try and help you if I can."

"But it was reckless, Flynn." Yuri glared at him. "You're trying to be Commandant, idiot. You can't be reckless like that. Pushing me out of the way of Alexei's attack, jumping off of Zaude…what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me," Flynn frowned.

"Then why were you being so reckless today, huh?" Yuri questioned.

"I wasn't being reckless," Flynn murmured.

"Are you sure about that? Because last time I checked, it wasn't in the Knights handbook to go shoving their friends out of the way of attacks, or jumping off of a giant shrine. Do you even realize that you could have been killed?" Yuri slowly sat up, wincing and clutching the wound.

"Dammit, maybe Sodia was right to try and get rid of me." He murmured.

"Don't you dare ever say that, Yuri!" Flynn snapped at him, making Yuri's eyes widen.

"Well its true, ain't it? Every time you're around me, you're a completely different person. You don't think straight, you don't think like the Commandant you need to become. You start acting like…"

"Like you?" Flynn interrupted.

"Yeah…like me…" Yuri murmured, averting his eyes and sighing.

"Look Flynn, you can't be doing that and you know it. Acting like me…being like me….isn't all its cracked up to be." He said quietly.

"Being me isn't exactly a cakewalk either Yuri…" Flynn murmured.

"What are you talking about, Captain? You have loyal knights who'll gladly do anything for you. Take Sodia for example," Yuri smirked slightly and motioned to his side.

"This isn't funny!" Flynn glared.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Yuri held his hands up in surrender.

Flynn sighed heavily and looked away, rubbing his arm nervously. "Not everyone in the knights like me, Yuri. Cumore and Ragou especially have it out for me. Trying to change the empire from the inside is no easy job."

"Yeah, well neither is trying to keep the Lower Quarter a float, hence why I've been in jail so much." Yuri sighed as well, looking into the darkness of the forest.

"This was just supposed to be a simple mission to retrieve the stolen blastia for Hank, but instead I get dragged into all this mess." He shook his head, "We sure know how to make things difficult on ourselves Flynn."

"Striving to make people smile will do that to you, Yuri." Flynn smiled ever so slightly.

"I guess you're right. Neither of us could ever break a promise anyway, especially one we made together." Yuri shared the smile and held his wrist up.

Flynn nodded and bumped his wrist with Yuri's. "That's true."

"So, what are we going to do about the Adaphagos?" Yuri questioned with a frown.

"I'm not sure, but we'll figure that out once we get back together with everyone. The boats should be here by morning." Flynn said thoughtfully.

"Always prepared for everything," Yuri chuckled and then winced as it caused an ache through his side.

"And you're always reckless with everything." Flynn shook his head, "Come on and lie back down. You need to rest. You did lose a lot of blood."

Yuri grit his teeth as Flynn helped him ease back down. He couldn't disagree the fact that he was beginning to feel dizzy from lowered blood pressure.

"Right, thanks…" Yuri murmured.

"Don't mention it. Just, don't get yourself almost killed again, kay? I'm not going to be bale to fulfill our promise alone." Flynn winked.

"Ha, don't worry. You can't get rid of me that easily. I've made it my goal in life to annoy you ever chance I get." Yuri smirked tiredly.

"Good, I'll be looking forward to it." Flynn chuckled.

Yuri joined in with a light laugh, the sounds of brotherly bonding flitting through the darkness and disappearing into the starry night sky.


End file.
